ramblings of an entrepreneurial madman

My birthday is Feb 24th and I can’t believe I’m turning 30. It feels like just the other day I was partying at college just enjoying life and ever since graduating I’ve been fighting for my financial survival. If there is anything I’ve learned in the past 7 years, it’s that this shit isn’t supposed to be easy. If it were, then we’d have an entire nation of rich-ass motherfucker’s who don’t appreciate their wealth.

We’re dropping some money on a big marketing campaign and I hope to fucking God this is the “one” because we’ve tried so much shit – none of which has worked. I just want that phone to blow up so I can know for a fact; it’s happening, it’s going to work…

This past weekend the Giants won the Superbowl and I’m a diehard fan so I was stoked about that! The only problem was that I ended up drinking way to much and I’m trying to watch my budget, so for the rest of this month I have to keep a tighter lid on my shit.

Anyways, goals for February!! Well first off, we need to get the damn phone ringing. I guess that’s the most important thing right now because if we can do that, the deals will come. I’d like to have almost 10 deals total by the end of the month but I’m not sure about that. Who knows though. If this marketing push we’re doing this week works out, it very well may happen.

It looks like my goal of being a legitimate millionaire by the time I’m 30 was an epic failure but if it occurs in the next year or two I won’t complain too much, I just need to see something positive here. I’ve lost count of how many things I’ve tried that didn’t work out. I’m sick and fucking tired of it.

Well this month, my post volume has been down significantly because I’ve been busy as hell with work. I had an awesome week last week and I’m hoping I can keep that momentum going into this upcoming week. As of right now, I feel as though I can get 10 deals for the month; we shall see.

My business partner is also kicking ass and it looks like he’s going to set a new company record if he keeps at the same pace. This is good for the both of us because it will give us more “clout” when it comes time to negotiate. I know the owners of the company were maybe expecting me to drop 4-5 deals my first month, but if I can finish with double digits and beat their other sales employee(who’s been with the company 3 yrs) I know I’ll turn some heads.

In regards to getting our own marketing figured out; we haven’t yet, but we are getting closer. That really is the only missing piece of the puzzle at this point because if we get that working, my goal of becoming a millionaire is within my grasp. Right now as a regular sales rep it won’t happen. However if I can generate my own leads and build a legitimate sales force, I’ll have a chance. At this point, I can’t ask for much more.

I’ve also posted in the past about my desire to move to California, and I’ve been thinking about this a lot recently. I think it may be time to seriously make a decision or to stay fucking put. Last year I was 100% gung-ho about moving, now it’s more like 50/50. I really need to take some trips out there and see how I feel while I’m visiting certain areas. There are a few factors I need to keep in mind. I need a new car before I move. My car now has a shitload of miles on it and it’s on its last breath. Also, moving costs money and is expensive. I was thinking I’d be able to at the end of the year when my lease is up, but I don’t think that’s a realistic expectation at this point. Maybe the first quarter of 2012 I’ll be ready. Lastly, if everything goes well with work and we start building a sales force locally, there is no way in hell I can leave. I can build the sales force in California if I want, but if things progress more rapidly than anticipated, then it looks like I’ll be stuck here.

The good news is that if I am stuck, I know I’ll be happier because I’ll be running a growing and thriving business.

So this week the goal is to finish the month off strong and experiment with some new marketing techniques to see if we can find that home run. The last few things we tried just didn’t produce the results we were hoping for. Again, I’ll be busy, but I’ll do my best to post a monthly wrap-up at the end of next week.

Woke up this morning and had a voicemail from a client I’ve been working with. She wasn’t someone I was expecting to sign up, but once I got back into the office I gave her a call. She wanted to sign up and I closed her right then and there; bright and early. It was a great way to start my day and a great way to start the week. This week needs to be good because last week was dead.

That’s how it’s going to be. One deal at a time, until I get enough active clients to support my first new hire. I really want it to happen by the end of the second quarter, which means this month is huge. The same goes for May and June.

Today I’ll work as long as I need to. Afterwards, head home and do some cardio at the gym at my apartment complex. From there, cook up a nice healthy dinner, and just chill.

Hopefully I can close another deal today, although I don’t have anything lined up. It doesn’t matter though, this game is all mental and having a positive attitude. If you think you’ll bring in deals, you will bring them in.

So I’m on my second cup of coffee and I keep telling myself I’m going to try and cut down on the caffeine but fuck it’s so hard. I’m drinking regular cups here at the office, so it’s not like I’m starting off with one of those big bastards from Starbucks that has enough caffeine to kill a small cow.

Also, last night I was looking over some numbers (what else is new right?) and I realized that my goals are a little unrealistic at this point. At the time I set them, they made perfect sense with the projections I had in place, but obviously things have not gone according to plan. My goal was to have 50k-75k of monthly business generated by the end of 2010, and I don’t think that will happen until 2011. So I have to look over those goals and readjust them to make them more realistic. It’s good to set your sights high, but you can’t set them too high because you’ll never hit them. Goals are meant to keep you motivated, not the opposite, and after months and months of not hitting your mark, it will fuck with your head.

Since I don’t really have any appointments for deals today I’m going to see if I can 1 call close someone. It’s been awhile since I have and it would rock to get 2 in today.

That’s pretty much it, so if anything goes down I’ll throw up an update.